Michelle Whitten

Did you hear? Santa stopped by Wonder Donuts last Sunday and enjoyed a jolly afternoon, visiting with about 70 of Discovery Ridge’s youngest residents!

We were thrilled to welcome Santa as he took the time to chat with each child, spreading holiday merriment one smile at a time. With the help of his trusty assistant, things ran smoothly—and every child went home with a festive treat bag to top off the experience.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this magical afternoon so special. A special shout-out to the team at Wonder Donuts, who graciously lent their space and ensured there were plenty of donuts for every attendee to enjoy—each one complimentary and sponsored by the DRCA. We also extend our thanks to Shelley Munnings of CIR Realty, who brought extra joy and sparkle to the event as Santa’s helper.

Moments like these are what make our community shine.

The DRCA continues to engage with the CPS regarding dangerous and noisy street racing and speeding along Stoney Trail. If you also have concerns, you can assist by:

REMEMBER – REPORTING MATTERS!

The Province of Alberta has prohibited the use of photo radar on all provincial highways and connectors. If you disagree with this mandate, please contact our MLA, Mike Ellis, to advocate for the return of photo radar usage. The CPS has shared with us that this is the most effective tool to combat speeding on highways like Stoney Trail (reminder – Stoney Trail is a Provincial Highway).

Enforcement update from CPS:

Remember: Reporting matters. Community reporting helps CPS identify patterns and take action. Please note that the Province of Alberta has prohibited photo radar on provincial highways and connectors, including Stoney Trail. If you disagree with this policy, you may contact our MLA, Mike Ellis, to advocate for the return of photo radar—an enforcement tool CPS has identified as the most effective for reducing speeding on highways like Stoney Trail.

The holidays bring joy and celebration — and about 25% more waste from wrapping paper, packaging, and food. A few simple changes can make a big difference.

Sustainability

Some simple ways to celebrate sustainably are:

Christmas Tree Composting

When the celebrations wind down, give your real Christmas tree an eco-friendly farewell:

Holiday Collection Schedule Changes

For some communities, home holiday pickup days for blue, black, and green carts are shifting:

Regular Thursday collection resumes on January 8. Check your pickup schedule.

This change should not affect Discovery Ridge. Our pickup days are December 24 (blue cart), December 30 (black cart), and December 31 (blue and green carts).

Thank you, Discovery Ridge! Your efforts help keep our city clean, green, and joyful throughout the season.

Wishing you a warm, sustainable, and happy holiday season!

Due to the sudden warm temperatures, both the Hockey Rink and the Leisure Ice are temporarily CLOSED.

Please help keep the rinks protected and respect our dedicated volunteers, who work tirelessly making and maintaining the ice, by staying off of the ice surfaces until they reopen. Skating on them in warm weather, when the ice is soft, damages and sometimes destroys the ice.

The City of Calgary has provided the following update:

We will be hosting a virtual information session for the Discovery Ridge Dam Safety project on Thursday November 20 at 6:30 pm. The project team will give a short presentation followed by time for questions and answers. The link to register for the info session can be found on the project webpage at Discovery Ridge Dam safety or here: November 20 Info Session Over the next week, signs with the project webpage will be installed in the park, postcards with this information will be mailed to residents in the area, and an email will be sent to those who have signed up for project updates.

For more than a year, the Discovery Ridge Community Association (DRCA) and community volunteers have actively advocated for enhanced wildfire safety in Griffith Woods and our neighbourhood. Through these efforts and strong partnerships—particularly with the Calgary Fire Department (CFD)—we’re pleased to share that Discovery Ridge has been selected as the location for a new, specialized training exercise. We feel that this is an excellent opportunity to raise additional awareness to our unique location from a fire safety perspective, so we agreed to support this request. 

Expect to see the crews in our neighbourhood on Monday, November 3 and Tuesday, November 4 from approximately 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. 

Location & Closures:

Neighbourhood impact: 

The DRCA is proud to support this important initiative to increase fire safety in our community

With winter quickly approaching, we are looking for dedicated volunteers to join our rink crews. Do you or your family enjoy using our outdoor rinks? If so, please consider helping us make and maintain our ice.

Once the weather is consistently below freezing, we will start the initial rink flooding, which involves an all-hands-on-deck approach that takes a few weeks. Once the rinks are established, we will then operate four separate rink crews, each working one week on and then three weeks off in rotation. The commitment varies, but this schedule has worked well in past years.

But … it only works if we have enough people to operate the four crews. Each crew has a team lead that coordinates with that team and with other teams. We generally have an overall lead as well that coordinates between the team leads. We typically have at least six volunteers per team, and more is always better.

With thanks to the many past volunteers who have worked many hours on the rinks, it is important to bring in fresh volunteers as others cycle out over time. This way we can have our experienced volunteers train up the new recruits and pass along years of ice-making knowledge. This includes operating the equipment that the DRCA has purchased for rink maintenance.

The outdoor rinks in Discovery Ridge are amongst our best used and most appreciated amenities, but they only operate if we have enough volunteers. Please consider helping this year!

If you have an questions, email recfacilities@discoveryridge.com. If you are ready to help, email volunteer@discoveryridge.com.

The City of Calgary has provided the following update regarding the work being completed at the Stormwater Pond.